funny – Anime QandA

Friend Panic – ‘Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu’ Episode 2 Review

Friend Panic – An Anime QandA Review for ”Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu’ Episode 2

What’s the show? Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu, Episode 2.

So how’s this episode? I love Bocchi! Bocchi is the best!

Oh-okay, yeah I kinda gathered that from your glowing review last week! You maybe, but my previous episode review was one of my lowest viewed, lowest liked episodic posts I’ve ever done. I was devastated at how much Bocchi is being ignored–or at least my review of it…

It means a lot to people who have trouble initiating conversations, you know!

Maybe you should take that as a sign that people aren’t that interested in reading episodic reviews for cute girl slice of life shows? Or maybe I should just double down on it and review it in excruciating detail every week! I’ll get people to notice Bocchi–or die trying!

Why do I feel like this is going to be a weekly train-wreck? As opposed to all my other reviews that end up with me frantically pounding my fists on they keyboard at 2am?

Bocchi randomly blowing her recorder is a big mood.

I feel like we’ve diverted from the intended goal… what’s this episode about? Bocchi and her new friend Nako are having a fight–or rather Nako is made at Bocchi but because Bocchi possesses the social acuity of a moss-covered log she ends up having to turn to Aru Honsho–her class’ vice representative and all round suspiciously nice girl. After an excruciatingly long-winded (and hilarious) flashback sequence we see that Bocchi dropped the ball by saying she only started talking to Nako because of the promise she made to her elementary school friend to “make friends with all the kids in her class”. Thankfully Aru is their to mediate and they’re soon friends again.

Phew, crisis averted! I know you’re being rude so I’ll chose to ignore you. Anyway, some time after that they approach Aru one morning before school and Nako notices that Aru still has the coat hanger inside her sweater even though she’s wearing it and so proceeds to ‘quiz’ her on her life and overall behaviour. Turns out Aru isn’t the ‘little miss perfect’ she pretends to be and is in fact a pretty big loser or “unfortunate” as Nako labels her. But she doesn’t do so maliciously, she’s just wanting to get the bottom of this girls’ character and have her be herself–something she warms to over the course of an awkward conversation (with most of said awkwardness coming from Bocchi’s constant mis-reading of the situation).

And so what’s gained from this episode? It doesn’t sound like much happens? In the grand scheme of things, sure, not much happened. But for Bocchi these a big steps towards being able to function around other people and have conversations with friends that don’t result in reading cheat sheets or running away. This is Bocchi’s journey and she’s gaining more allies along the way and did I mention I loved every minute of it?

Yeah, I think you mentioned that once or twice… Well I’ll say it again, this show is adorable and wholesome and just makes me so happy! More please!

Previous ‘Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu’ Reviews:

Curb Your Anxiety – Episode 1 Review

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Curb Your Anxiety – ‘Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu’ Episode 1 Review

Curb Your Anxiety – An Anime QandA Review for ‘Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu’ Episode 1

What’s the show? Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu, Episode 1.

Uh-huh and what’s that all mean then? It means we’re about to witness the mother-flippin’ anime of the season, y’all!

I’m sorry, what? Ahem… apologies, I’m just a bit excited because this anime is amazing and brilliant and I loved every second of it and hueeee *breathes deeply into a paperbag*

Okay, okay… calm the heck down. Let’s take this slow, what’s the show about first of all? Right, so our protagonist Hitori Bocchi is a new middle-schooler who is combatting the world–namely because she suffers from extreme social anxiety and seemingly everything she thinks or says or does causes her monumental grief in just virtue of existing. It’s mostly in her head of course but this anime is basically Bocchi going through everyday life with her crippling anxiety and the cute, comedic insanity that ensues from it.

You have “cute” and “crippling anxiety” in the same sentence? I can’t help but think that’s a problem. You’d think so, but despite Bocchi’s various issues in dealing with other people this anime not only represents them as absurd and comedic but also relatable and endearing. It’s a deft juggling act that only really shows itself as thus after a closer examination at just how flawlessly this episode works at conveying both tone and sensibility.

Kudos to the translation team/person responsible for translating *all* of this! A+

Uh-huh, go on… And that’s where I’m kind of at a loss for words. I mean, quite personally this show is amazing but at the same time it’s really hard to convey its good points into a scholarly review–you know with words and whatnot. And that goes for a lot of comedic and slice of life series’ especially in the case where half the appeal is in the delivery of lines and the pacing of jokes. Also (and this might come as some surprise) but I’ve actually got a lot in common with Bocchi in that both of us overthink things, both of us have literally zero friends and both of us think everyday life would be simpler without having to interact with any other people.

That… that doesn’t surprise me at all, you’re like the epitome of a recluse… Shuddup!

Ugh, okay fine but at least give me some more information to go on about this show. Will ya? Spoilers for the first episode but Bocchi eventually–by the end of the episode–makes friends with a “thug-ish” girl named Nako Sunao and boy do I have a crush on this anime girl already or what? Not only is she tough and standoffish to strangers but she’s got an adorable and caring side to her and oompf!

“Oompf”? Better you don’t ask…

O-kay, then… This review is rapidly deteriorating into nonsensical banter, please wrap it up. ‘Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu’ or “Bocchi” as i’ll be referring to it hence forth is a masterful piece of slice of life comedy while simultaneously being awkward and adorable and weird and familial. It’s kind of like the ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ of anime–except instead of a balding, ageing white man as its protagonist it has an adorable Japanese girl struggling to even partake in the most basic of human interactions. I love this show, I love Hitori Bocchi and I want a million more episodes. I don’t care how unprofessional this review turns out, I’m just being the best ‘me’ I can be!

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The Anime QandA Search Terms of 2018

A look at what search terms led people to find Anime QandA in 2018

So as I’m sure many of you are aware WordPress has this slightly amazing (if not completely flawless) way of detecting the ‘search terms’ which lead the randos of the internet to finding your blog/website. Of course, it doesn’t include ‘Google’ search results because ~reasons~ but it does include every other search engine. And apparently that’s where all their weirdos hang out because I swear the majority of my search terms in 2018 were either specifically perverted or just pervertedly specific! Let’s take a look at some, shall we?! This post was inspired by Irina’s of the same nature, take a look at hers please, it’s substantially more ‘unique’ than mine!

Also, much like Irina’s post I’ll be dividing this up into categories as I see fit! First off:

It’s All About Boobs

Make no mistake, anime and boobs go together like, peanut butter and jam (apparently, I don’t know I’m Australian, we don’t eat those two things together). But yeah, in case you missed it last year I did a post about the 10 Biggest Boobs In Anime and unsurprisingly that was my 2nd most searched for post–Garnering 1,437 views! But all sorts of ways got people to find that post, let’s take a look at a few!

https://animeqanda.com/2018/05/28/10-biggest-boobs-in-anime-listing-compulsive/amp/18 somehow this was my biggest search term of the year, 80(!) of them and its literally just a web address for the post? Do people not know how browser bars work?
biggest boobs in anime yep, that’s what it was called, next!
breasts in anime 2018 yes there were breasts in 2018 anime too, and 2019 I’m guessing too!
biggest boobs in animr I mean the ‘R’ key is very close to the ‘E’ key so I suppose this is forgivable…
big boob anime why do I feel like a caveman wrote this?
biggest breasts manga close but no cigar!
big booby anime school girl I don’t remember the last time someone refereed to them as ‘booby’ but thanks for the nostalgia trip!
largest breast in anime I bet this person was British. #justsayin… (also why singular use of breast, rather than breasts?)
biggest anime boob ever AGAIN why with the singular?!
list of anime big boobs character ‘making a list, checking it twice…’
list of biggest boobs in animes I love me some “animes”
the biggest boobs in anime history well now you’re just making me regret what I called the post with such grandiose language!
monstrous boobs anime I mean “monstrous” is just so evocative
top 10 big tits hentai womens names “I need names, damn it!”
boobs anime yep, that’s the two things!
top 10 biggest tits hentai I’m not covering hentai content… yet…

What Controversy?!

Remember when ‘Goblin Slayer’ was controversial? I sure do, because I managed to rack up 1500+ views on my Episode 1 review in the space of a single week! I doubt I’ll ever see those kind of numbers in such a short time again, but with said numbers came search results!

goblin slayer rape scene this was my number 1 Goblin Slayer search term with 11 hits, succinct and to the point you could say!
goblin slayer sex ummm… not quite
goblin slayer rape correct!
goblin slayer episode 4 elf one eye closed you mean a wink right?! It’s called a wink!
goblin slayer has a rape scene no way!
goblin slayer episode 1 rape? that question mark is triggering me so hard right now…
hentai goblin slasher sounds like a porn parody
qanda qoblin I do like the sound of a ‘qoblin’ its like a goblin with a speech impediment!
goblin slayer episode 1 uncensored excuse me?! What exactly do you want more explicit about that episode? Oh the rape… right…
goblin slayer uncensored ep1 stop

My Sister, My Writer? My God!

So apparently covering ‘My Sister, My Writer’ on a weekly basis was a good idea because I got literally thousands of views for this show each month. And I doubt any of them were searching because of the plot!

https://animeqanda.com/2018/11/09/my-sister-my-writer-episode-5-review/amp/13 with 18 views this was the second highest searched result of the year… and again it’s a literal address as opposed to key words. Wut.
my sister, my writer episode 1 uncensored “down with censorship” is pretty much the theme of this particular category
my sister, my writer fanservice not much of that I’m afraid, the show is kinda dull in that respect!
my sister my writer bad animation but yes, it did have that.
my sister my writer nude wait, you want the whole show nude?
my sister my writer naked again?!
my sister my writer anime nudity gotta get ‘dem nudes!
my sister my writer what is it about incest, next!
my sister my writer anime ahegao double peace well she is the best character!
my sister my writer unscenaord oh, you tried…
my sister my writer be dub lol no, never in a billion years
incest anime gifs I can only assume this is related. Heh! “Related”!
horny+loli sister my writer yep that about sums it up!
my sister – my writer uncensored moments just the moments, you can keep the rest
my sister my writer episode 7 not is that you Borat?
when will my sister my writer be uncensored you just gotta believe! But seriously it’s called the AT-X version and you can get it via torrent. It’s that easy.

Assorted Perverts

I mean what else are people on the internet for other than sex? What other possible use does this technology have?! Please tell!

konosuba boobs gifs Yes I want them too!
shina aki sex not quite, well not yet anyway…
naked women anime when you word it like that it just sounds strange!
christmas shota a shota’s not just for Christmas!
the master of ragnarok & blesser of einherjar twins naked with big ass …excuse me?
the master of ragnarok sex nope, never happened
anime girl bath too many to choose from!
bo y doing each other it’s the unintentional space in the word ‘boy’ that makes this search term a winner
hentai narusawa riyouka now you’ve got me curious…
older sister straight shota this isn’t pornhub!
cattleya boob they are impressive
that time i got reincarnated as a slime girls naked I’d like this too? Where can I get this? Oh right not on my site…
shera greenwood gif boobs it’s the gif that keeps on giving
sexy ogre prior to ‘That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime’ I would have thought this search term silly, now I can only nod agreeing while thinking of Shion.
momen seksi dxd hero I don’t speak Indonesian but I understood that perfectly
anime girl with abs *new fetish acquired*
anime belly button now that’s very specific
anime girl enema this is because I titled a Chio’s School Road ep review ‘Public Enema Number One’ isn’t it?
naked pictures from the master of ragnarok & blesser of einherjar rule 34 didn’t anyone ever tell you to make your search terms short?!
murcielago sex as in the manga? or the sports car?
a loli a day keeps the doctor away?
how not to summon a demon lord fingering ~oof
island anime had sex “and it felt so good!”
chio’s school road nude It’s out there, just not on my site (sorry)
chio’s school road no panties ahem…
chio’s hentai man Chio was popular!
senran kagura shinobi master nipple just the one, that’s all I need!
franxx strelitzia hentai robot porn, sure why not
anime tongue kissing LEWD

Question Time

Sometimes people have very specific questions and I can only hope that my site offers them a degree of enlightenment. If not I will proceed to answer those questions, right now! (Minor spoilers for shows that aired last year)

rascal does not dream of bunny girl senpai age you need to know for “research” purposes I’m sure, she’s a third year in high school so let’s say 17.
island anime did setsuna have sex with rinne well spoilers but yeah. But it’s complicated!
how not to summon a demon lord where does diablo put his fingers in rem you’re really needing me to spell it out? In her vagina. Next!
best ghost waifu now I need to make that into a list! Oh, let’s just say Yuuna for the sake of answering this question.
does ayaka miss caretaker loves akkkun too many ‘k’s in the name but yes she probably does.
serial killer loli anime 2018 that’d no doubt be ‘Happy Sugar Life’ but what a way to describe it…
bang dream vs love live bang dream.
is angel of death really scary anime that’s subjective, but personally I only saw 2 episodes and it wasn’t really.
that time i got reincarnated as a slime will shizu ever return? hey look an actual question mark! I mean it’s a fantasy series so I wouldn’t rule anything out but I’m going to say sadly probably not.
aki shina really a boy I mean I know he’s petite and cute but that’s kind of mean, of course he is!
sunohara-sou are you really a boy yes! Stop asking!
märchen mädchen what happen? a hurried production time, a director quitting and being replaced with an inexperienced one, just basically every bad thing that could happen to an anime production.
how much time passed in darling in the franx a lot.
does yuuna and the haunted hot springs have an uncensored version yes, it’s on blu-ray in Japan.
the master of ragnarok does felicia have sex with someone else umm, she doesn’t have sex with anyone as far as I’m aware!
what anime does a girl like another girl and likes coffins maybe ‘Ms Vampire who lives in my neighbourhood’? But what a strange way to word it…
best waifu to start out with this is the single most perplexing question I got this year. Like is this an alien trying to figure out how to fit in with Earth otaku culture? Or is this someone trying to go undercover as a weeb? Mate, you don’t pick a waifu, there’s no guide, you watch anime… any anime and the waifus will come to you.

Nani?

Sometimes people know exactly what they want but that doesn’t help me much. I didn’t get many but these were the more perplexing search terms of the year…

heds cool dxd born animeq I’m sorry you’ll need to repeat yourself?
anime mild born to be mild?
futaba rascal does not “Oh hi Mark!”
manga pony play I don’t even want to know!
kyodan what?
bachelorette blake instagram ~why~
hare bikini fanservice what, as in like a rabbit?
muck definition I don’t even know how you got to my site by searching this…

And that’s it for 2018 search terms, I spent way longer on this than I should have so hopefully it provided some entertainment for you! Feel free to share some of your weirdest/funniest/most random search terms in the comments below!

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Chio’s School Road – Full Season QandA Rundown

What’s the important information? Chio’s School Road is a Summer 2018 comedy anime that aired 12 episodes from July to September. It is a partial adaptation of a 9 volume Seinen manga series by Tadataka Kawasaki.

What’s it about? Very simply, it’s about Chio Miyamo a below average high-school girl and avid video gamer and the various antics she gets up to on her daily commute from her house to her school. The shenanigans range from strange conversations with her friend Manana to things absurd as encounters with biker gangs, risky parkour and run-ins with a butt-poking elementary schooler.

Why did you watch it? The series sold itself as an ‘absurd comedy’ and I’m all about that!

Did you enjoy the show? Absolutely, it delivered on the absurdity and also solidified it with a truly great cast of characters and a seemingly expanding world of quirky characters that inhabited the series. Even the weakest of episodes had laugh-out-loud moments and imagery worthy of surreal screen caps.

What was your favourite episode? While every episode had a worthwhile and hilarious segment (each episode of the show is divided into either 2 or 3 ‘segments’), Episode 7 which concerned Chio discovering the “joys” of BL (Boys Love) games and trying to buy a magazine about it and then following that up with the first appearance of the butt-poking elementary schooler had me in tears of laughter from beginning to end! Not to mention all the references to the differences between Western and Japanese video games.

What were your most favourite things about the show? Aside from the comedy—which ran the gamut from slapstick, to wordplay, to non-sequiturs, to cringe, to character driven. Chio herself was an absolute joy to behold, the way her mind works was not only frequently hilarious but also surprisingly relatable—especially as a gamer myself.

Wbat were your least favourite things about the show? There were a couple of repeat characters that Chio encountered that weren’t perhaps as funny as the show thought they were, the pervert homeless man especially was a character whose appearance only cheapened the overall quality of the show.

Who was your favourite character? I want Chio to be my girlfriend. Is that weird? That’s probably weird… But seriously, I really love Chio’s general outlook on life—even if it is striving for mediocrity for the sake of living life unnoticed. Plus she’s just cute in that nerdy kind of way!

What’s something unique about this show? Episode 2 just straight up dropped the c-word and I still can’t get over that fact! Yes it was just in text and yes the c-word doesn’t really have the same vulgar/taboo connotations in Japan as it does in the west but I was still flabbergasted to see it on-screen! Amazing and hilarious.

What other anime are most like it for the sake of comparison? For some reason I’m reminded of Yuruyuri, though moreso the later half of the season where the comedy gets more character driven as opposed to absurd ‘sketch’ style. Also, if you want a Western sitcom comparison, it definitely at times reminded me of Seinfeld, in that these people are all kind of dysfunctional jerks, but they’re absolutely relatable.

Who would you recommend it to? Anybody who likes their comedy on the more ~absurd~ end of the spectrum, obviously not Pop Team Epic levels of absurdity but still grounded in reality. Also, there’s a lot of references to Western video games which even if you’re not a fan of them there’s a lot of fun to be gained to just see the Japanese perspective on something that’s apparently very unusual to them that a lot of us probably take for granted as being ‘normal’.

Sum up the season in one sentence: ‘The road ahead is twisted and filled with obstacles but they’re all a part of silly and strange journey that I’m glad to have taken!’

Final score? 88 out of 100.

Previous Chio’s School Road Reviews:

Otaku’s Creed – Episode 1 Review
The Actual C-Word – Episode 2 Review
Full Contact Perineum – Episode 3 Review
Stupid Sexy Smoking – Episode 4 Review
Urine Trouble – Episode 5 Review
The Art of Butt Groping – Episode 6 Review
Public Enema Number One – Episode 7 Review
Sprinter Belle – Episode 8 Review
Pipe Dreams – Episode 9 Review
The Sweeter Life – Episode 10 Review
Sleeping On The Bank Job – Episode 11 Review
No Panties, No Problems! – Episode 12 Review

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No Panties, No Problems! – ‘Chio’s School Road’ Episode 12 (Finale) Review

No Panties, No Problems! – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Chio’s School Road’ Episode 12

What’s the show? Chio’s School Road, Episode 12.

The season finale! What’s this episode about? Something revelatory happened at the end of this episode!

Uh-huh, why do I get the feeling this is going to be something actually not revelatory… or knowing you something perverted… How dare you! No, what happened was we found out the ~truth~ about this series—turns out this is a TV show!

…Um, hate to break it to you but that’s not news… of course it’s a TV show, what else do you think you’ve been watching?! No you don’t understand, I mean there’s bloopers at the end of the episode that reveal this show is a TV show like a scene will play, somebody will flub a line and then the director yells cut and we see the camera crew bustle around to reset the scene as the cast laughs off the mistake.

Wait, so in the context of the anime it’s a TV show? Actually probably not, I think they were just having a bit of fun since this was the last episode, I don’t actually think this is a TV show—still bloopers in an anime is pretty unique, yeah?

I don’t know… I don’t watch anime… Right, sorry.

So you gonna say what the episode is actually about or just waste my time? Geez! Alright then, so the first segment is about Andou’s kid-sister Chiharu asking Chio for help with a school project—a social studies question asking “How You Could Earn 500 Yen with your current abilities”. Immediately Chio’s mind goes to the X-rated which was particularly funny but from there the segment more or less meanders with only a few chuckles in-between.

Fair enough, and the second segment? A much funnier one, thankfully, especially as it’s more or less the final segment of the show (if you don’t count the “next season preview” and “bloopers”). Basically we get to know a little bit more about Yuki—we already knew she was a bit of an exhibitionist but it turns out she’s also a nudist at home and has a secret desire to streak (which makes sense as it combines her two passions; running and being looked at while nude).

And how’s that come into Chio’s walk to school? Well, Manana ends up trying to “tease” Yuki about being a nudist which ends up biting her in the bare-ass as Yuki straight-up confronts her about her comments and says she’ll fight anyone who talks badly of her lifestyle choices. This ends up with Manana backing down and then trying to fix things by suggesting they “go commando” for the rest of the day—an idea that Yuki is very excited about. One quick visit to the restrooms later and both Manana and Yuki are sans-underpants!

No wonder you like this segment… Hey, don’t kink shame! Besides it’s fun seeing Yuki and Manana get so into it, while Chio just watches from the sidelines, getting more and more jealous of how “Manana hasn’t laughed like that with me in a long-time”. This segment does double duty, catering to my desire to see panty-less school girls frolicking and setting up that ‘ship I so long for.

You’re the worst, just thought I’d remind you of that in case I hadn’t said so today. Thanks. Also just for the record, you don’t see anything—this isn’t an ecchi after all, everything is more-or-less eluded to or carefully framed out. Though I do wonder if there will be an uncensored version one day…

Enough! And what was this about a “next season preview”? It’s not getting a second season is it? Not at this stage, but much like the bloopers I have to assume this “preview” is entirely jokey—and kudos because it works. It teases at some things that were brought up in earlier episodes (like being proposed to on the water pipe Chio likes), as well as setting up some wholly ridiculous and over-the-top elementary school butt poking gang that Chiharu is the leader of—it’s all pretty great!

Can we get a spin-off of the butt-poking series please? No reason…

So I take it you enjoyed this finale? For sure—certainly the show is quite a bit different from when it started (as I discussed in my Episode 11 review), but it’s still consistently entertaining and frequently hilarious and this final episode is no different. Plus for those who truly miss the way the show was in the first half of the season the “next season preview” and “bloopers” are very much a reminder of that particular brand of madness—oh and Chio and Manana finally kiss, but it happens in the “blooper” section, so probably not canon, right? Right?!

Previous Chio’s School Road Reviews:

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Sleeping On The Bank Job – ‘Chio’s School Road’ Episode 11 Review

Sleeping On The Bank Job – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Chio’s School Road’ Episode 11

What’s the show? Chio’s School Road, Episode 11.

So what happens in this episode? In the previous episode I made an observation that the show was turning away from the broader ‘random’ style of comedy that it first sold itself as and was moving into more focused character driven comedy and this episode pretty much confirms that!

We’re approaching Asobi Asobase levels of reaction faces here!

Okay, we get it, you’re clever and pick up on things—so what actually happens here then? Basically we’ve got two segments, one where Chio has an awkward night of not being able to sleep after a particularly exciting online video-game victory (it’s during a bank heist in a Payday-esque game) and the other where Manana is worried about her body odour. On paper, neither segment seems like it would elicit large amount of laughs and you know what, compared to earlier episodes they don’t, but the character stuff is so good it doesn’t really matter all that much. This is a very different show then the one we started with!

Uh-huh… you know glossing over what happens in the episode in the space of a paragraph and not having much to follow it up with isn’t really conducive to a riveting review… It’s the penultimate episode of a comedy series with next to zero actual plot—you should be surprised I made it this far and managed to make entertaining weekly reviews!

Well that’s debatable… Tch!

I think this is the first time we’ve seen Manana in plain clothes, they really suit her! Better than that school outfit!

So at the risk of this becoming your shortest review ever is there anything you want to talk about? There were some really impressive close-up’s of faces and really detailed animations in this episode–along with some expectedly weaker ones, and it almost felt like some of this episode was handled by a different animation studio? Anyone else get that feeling, or am I just imagining things?

Please answer in the comments below, ahem, anything else? Also, there were so many Chio-chan panty shots this week—not that I’m complaining! I mean she was one of my 10 Best Waifu’s Of Summer 2018 Anime after all!\

Trust you to be commending the quality of panty-shots belonging to an anime high-school girl… I don’t know why I continue to be surprised at your perverseness. One day I’ll be gone and you’ll miss it.

And to think people on Twitter were actually complaining about *this* kind of fan-service, like really?!

Don’t count on it. So overall thoughts on the episode? It was fun—I liked the added character trait they gave to Yuki about her being some absolutely brutal truth-teller even at the expense of seeming completely and utterly callous. But the way she does it in such a smiley way that makes her impossible to hate for it—the “smiling reaper” I think Manana called her. And as I said last week but will reiterate this show works on a different level now that the comedy is more character focused—it’s certainly an adjustment and for some it will be too much of a change but for me I’m very happy with this shows course correction.

Previous Chio’s School Road Reviews:

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The Sweeter Life – ‘Chio’s School Road’ Episode 10 Review

The Sweeter Life – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Chio’s School Road’ Episode 10

What’s the show? Chio’s School Road, Episode 10.

So what happened in this episode? There’s been a subtle, but nonetheless noticeable change happening to this show the past three or so episodes and now, with episode 10—the transition is more or less complete.

What are you talking about? From where this show was in the first few episodes; that is to say a gag-driven, almost sketch type comedy show. To where it is now, a character-driven comedy show, it may not seem like a big change but it’s kind of important to note.

Can you give some specific examples of this change? Of course. So, side-characters like Momo are being integrated more heavily into the narrative, expanding Chio’s circle of friends—the antics they get up to feel less over the top and outlandish and the comedy is driven from character interactions and knowing their personalities rather than outright ‘gags’. That’s not to say that things aren’t still silly and random, it’s just there’s less of a reliance on that.

And is that a good thing? Depends. I’ve seen a few comments complaining the show isn’t as funny as it once was and that’s a fair observation—it’s not as directly and immediately laugh-out-loud funny anymore. However the refocussing of this show on character development, world building and an overall more cohesive narrative experience ~feels~ like the right approach going forward, although…

Although? It’s the right approach for an ongoing series—for the manga for example, but this show’s about to end and presumably won’t be getting a second season so whether it needed to change is probably more the appropriate question. But if it happened in the manga then it’s only fair it happened in the manga—even if it feels late.

So what’s this episode about? Well Chio and Manana run across Momo the head of their school’s morals committee and she’s got a problem—she wants to buy some sweets and eat them immediately before school rather than saving them for later—something apparently rebellious. They stop into a small sweets store and it turns out that Momo is a completely different person under the influence of sweets. Basically it’s just a silly and cute segment of girls on a sugar high.

Momo’s version of “cutting loose” is adorably quaint.

And the other segments? In another segment that ties some previously disparate characters together—Chio comes across the butt-poking girl from Episode 7 and she discovers that she’s actually Ando’s little sister! And she’s on a mission—to find the girl who made her once tough big brother quit his motorcycle gang… and kill her! There’s a fun misunderstanding where little sister Chiharu thinks that the reason he quit the gang is because the girl was so good at “the sex”. And I mean what’s more interesting is the idea that they’re leaning into the possibility of the relationship between Chio and Ando—which I’m more and more okay with despite their age difference. (Turns out he’s only in his early 20’s…not that that’s legal, but it’s a bit better than I previously thought.)

I love how this anime censored the word ‘sex’ but didn’t censor the c-word back in Episode 2.

Right… so final word on the episode and how the show is progressing on the whole? I’ve already said a lot on it but I will add that I’m not ~quite~ as enthusiastic about the show as I was previously, while I’m more than happy with the character development and world building I think it’s sacrificed a little of what made it unique in the first place, which was this feeling that anything could happen. I’m still happy and enjoy this show every episode—just maybe not as much as I had been previously.

Previous Chio’s School Road Reviews:

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Pipe Dreams – ‘Chio’s School Road’ Episode 9 Review

Pipe Dreams – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Chio’s School Road’ Episode 9

What’s the show? Chio’s School Road, Episode 9.

So what happens on the way to school this week? A mix of hilarity and awkwardness—in both segments, makes for an uneven experience to say the least.

Oh, so it has problems, does it? The main problem with this episode is how much you enjoy older men preying on younger girls—which does seem to be the theme of this episode. Now watch me make a case for it in true reckless reviewing fashion!

Well I’ll admit it does sound a bit problematic, but you do love playing devil’s advocate so go ahead… It’s only problematic if you view this show as taking place in anything resembling reality, which I mean sure, is a pretty lame defence of something problematic but I think its viable to say that because this show is so exaggerated with reality. Having Chio and Manana befriending a homeless pervert and Chio getting a makeover from the guy only for the entire ‘sketch’ to punctuated by him exclaiming how much he enjoys spending time with high-school girls—it kind of feels like a joke Family Guy would pull except it’s stretched out for 10 minutes.

So wait, are you defending it or not? I’m confused. I think, as a character, the homeless pervert is fine in small doses but spending 10+ minutes with him is a bit grating, also there were probably better ways of handling this bit. There are genuine laughs to be had with Chio’s Marilyn Monroe style first makeover and then her elaborate pole dancing routine while wearing a top-knot style wig—all of this taking place at a shrine too. I was laughing out loud at these moments; it’s just whether they needed to be saddled with the homeless pervert or whether these comedic bits could have been done with any other character playing the role of the makeover artist.

Wait, pole dancing? Yeah, she learnt it from playing Grand Theft Auto—see video games don’t always lead to learning violent things! They can teach sexy things too!

I’m going to ignore that comment. Earlier, but you mentioned “older men preying on young girls”—plural. What happens in the second segment? Old mate Andou shows up again and guess what, our once tough blonde haired biker dude has a crush on Chio—which is adorable?(??)

I take it you’re conflicted about this. Again it’s all about the context of this show and whether this falls into reality or not. Obviously a 20something (possibly even 30something) year old man wanting to date a high school is ~not cool~ in our reality but in the world of Chio’s School Road… I mean maybe it’s okay? I mean if nothing else Andou is an absolute sweet heart, even going as far as playing a plethora of BL (Boy’s Love) games and even pretending to be gay and have a boyfriend in order to be relevant to her interests. But even that backfires because Chio is only new to the world of BL and doesn’t recognise the specific (but apparently popular) move Andou is putting on his “boyfriend”.

Poor Andou… wait, why am I rooting for this relationship? This wrong! I know right but at the same time I kinda wanna see them date… is that wrong? It’s definitely wrong… and yet… okay I’ll stop now.

Probably for the best. So anything else you wanted to add? As always this show, even if it’s doing something off-colour or problematic or even just not as consistently funny it always has enough going on around the segments to remain quotable and funny. Like with Chio’s sudden fascination with a large water pipe (going as far to say she’d marry the person who proposed to her while standing on it) and not to mention the little character moment where the hint of a relationship between Chio and Manana was rekindled. All in all I’m mostly enjoying this show for its characters and on that front this episode delivers.

This is the best line in any anime ever. I want to use this in real life.

Previous Chio’s School Road Reviews:

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Sprinter Belle – ‘Chio’s School Road’ Episode 8 Review

Sprinter Belle – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Chio’s School Road’ Episode 8

What’s the show? Chio’s School Road, Episode 8.

So what randomness does Chio and her friends get up to this time? A surprisingly down-to-earth episode, well—with the exception of the middle segment which has Chio being afflicted with Gamer Brain again and has her shimming up the side of two buildings ala Sam Fisher in the Splinter Cell games.

‘Kay… so what happens in the first segment then? Well Chio and Manana are on the way to school minding their own business with their other friend Yuki shows up in “inappropriate outfit” which is to say her track and field outfit—which Manana deems wholly inappropriate for walking to school in but of course doesn’t have the courage to outright say that to Yuki so she requests her to come into the busiest convenience store in town in order to show her the error of her ways.

Those expressions, haha, this show has such a dim view of men, I love it!

And how’s that supposed to do that? By having all the men in the store leer at her and making her feel uncomfortable of course! She’s a good friend that Manana, but it backfires because Yuki likes the attention—says it reminds her of being on the track with “all eyes on her” which Manana surmises to mean she’s an exhibitionist. When leaving the store Chio is suddenly wearing her Tennis outfit which at first Manana assumes it’s to show solidarity by working a similarly embarrassing and unsuitable ‘walk to school outfit’ but she later realises it’s because it better hides her identity, thus preventing embarrassment by association!

Did someone forget to animate all the people in the store? It was full in the previous shot… tsk tsk.

Smart girl… Indeed, all a part of Chio’s “Art of Being Below Average” a delightful way of life that’s very relatable—at least in a societal sense.

And the second segment, something about Chio shimmying up a wall like in a video game? At this point the more outlandish stuff feels almost pedestrian to the friend-interactions that ring far truer. It was still a lot of fun though, even if I think it could have been a bit shorter of a segment. Basically Chio climbs up a wall and gets into all sorts of shenanigans then Manana has to come after her, but uses her brains rather than risking her life, to get up the building.

For a hardcore gamer she sure is pretty able-bodied, though I guess she is in the Tennis club too…

Fair enough, and the final part? Unexpectedly, we get a completely non-comedic segment—and by that I don’t mean it tried to be funny and wasn’t but rather it’s a contemplative and honestly kind of pitiable look back at how Momo (who appeared in Episode 5 previously) became public morals officer of the School Council. It’s a well-written, emotional little piece that’s completely at odds with this show. It also paints her teacher (Gotou, who’s forever standing at the front gate of the school) in a much more sympathetic light as he’s the only teacher who bothers to listen to her—and did I mention this is completely at odds with this show! Maybe there’s a point to it later, maybe it’ll prove to be invaluable information, or maybe they just wanted some random pathos for a character we hardly ever see?

Anything else you wanted to add? This is probably one of the weakest episodes so far, but even then a weak episode of Chio’s School Road is more enjoyable that ~most~ things. Plus there’s never a shortage of outlandish and ridiculous screencaps to indulge in, which, let’s face it is half the fun of these reviews!

Previous Chio’s School Road Reviews:

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